At the start of the pandemic, Microsoft introduced a global skilling partnership with LinkedIn and GitHub which successfully brought free digital skills to 30 million people worldwide. As an extension of this, we at Microsoft launched our #BersamaMalaysia initiative in April 2021, making a bold pledge to upskill 1 million Malaysians by the end of 2023.

Understanding that this is by no means a small commitment, we practice a collaborative approach with likeminded industry leaders to expand the reach of our digital skilling human capacity development initiatives to ensure inclusive growth and economic recovery, in support of the government’s MyDIGITAL aspirations to nurture Malaysia into a digital-first nation.

In bringing our local skilling initiative to life, we embarked on a partnership with PETRONAS under its Digital Academy to nurture and equip talent with digital skills and provide a platform for employment opportunities. Since then, we have collaborated with PETRONAS on multiple initiatives including the PETRONAS BeDigital Bootcamp, which involved upskilling students from various universities in Malaysia. The inaugural BeDigital Bootcamp, which kickstarted in Universiti Malaysia Sabah, is a two-week curated program aimed at enhancing employability among today’s youth and equipping them with digital literacy to thrive in our digital-first world.

Speaking at the launch of the BeDigital Bootcamp in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Aadrin Azly, Chief Digital Officer of PETRONAS shared, “We aim to decode ‘How can we enhance the employability of Malaysians?’, and digital is one of the obvious options. The BeDigital Bootcamp was designed with the objective of enhancing local talents’ employability before they join the workforce. Once equipped with this bolstered leadership and innovative mindset, they can explore the realm of digital entrepreneurship, become digital technical specialists or venture into other digital roles within the job market.”

Through the Microsoft learning resources embedded within the BeDigital Bootcamp program, students who complete the fundamental courses will be awarded with globally recognized certifications that affirm their digital competencies, thereafter, boosting their entrepreneurship skills and employability amid the growing digital economy.

We are also happy to support the pathway for employment and economic contribution for these students through industry placements to sharpen their digital skills, nurture their experiences and expertise in the realm of entrepreneurship and build networks within the community that they would like to grow their talent in.

As part of this initiative, Microsoft will be providing Digital Entrepreneurship placement opportunities to select students, where they will be supporting programs that will enable entrepreneurs to be more competitive, increase their income and marketability as well as take advantage of the economic opportunities in the 21^st century not only in Malaysia, but globally as well. This will provide an avenue for them to have the capacity and capability of competing in the marketplace while gaining recognition and achieve personal and professional growth in various sectors of the industry, economy and commerce.

We understand that the speed of digital transformation is changing everything – from the way we work, play and live. To ensure a successful digital transformation journey, we don’t just require digital infrastructure, but it also requires us, the people, who are the enablers of technology to continuously learn, unlearn and relearn, not only to remain relevant but to also seize future opportunities in the digital era. This is in line with the nation’s digital aspirations, but more importantly to narrow the digital skills gap and for young graduates to meet the evolving demands of job markets.

Truly, our strong partnership with PETRONAS reflects our mutual goal to empower Malaysians to benefit together in tandem with the rapid pace of innovation and digital advancements. Moving forward, all of us at Microsoft Malaysia will continue to support a digitally enabled nation, empower the rakyat and businesses to build resilience digitally, and bridge the digital opportunities for all Malaysians.

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